Q & A / Ricky Jay / Master of illusion, collector of oddities

Ricky Jay doesn't have any white tigers or half-naked assistants. He doesn't like to perform in arenas filled with children, and he'll probably never make any of our national monuments disappear. But he's still managed to become one of the most recognized magicians in the world.

That's partly because of his side career, as Ricky Jay the Character Actor, appearing in pretty much every P.T. Anderson movie and every David Mamet film from the past decade, including the recently released "Heist."

Ricky Jay the Magician has performed in low-key TV specials on HBO, A&E and the BBC. His sleight-of-hand theater spectacular, "Ricky Jay and his 52 Assistants," has played in small venues, even though they always sell out.

The public has seen the least of Ricky Jay the Historian, perhaps his most interesting side. Mamet once called Jay "the ultimate repository of arcane information." He has a library of thousands of books, many of them documenting conjurers, hucksters and amazing physical specimens (read: freaks) from hundreds of years ago.

While history made its way into Jay's stage show and a few books he wrote over the years, its most concentrated form is "Jay's Journal of Anomolies," an illustrated quarterly published in the '90s.

Recently collected in hardback, "Jay's Journal of Anomolies" (Farrar, Straus & Giroux; 202 pages; $40) is handsome enough to display on the coffee table but gaudy enough in content (there's a section on human crucifixion) to ruin Sunday breakfast. It's too well-documented and literary to be considered easy reading but too filled with frivolous fun to be considered purely educational.

The book also includes articles on ceiling walkers, facial contortionists, magicians notable for their greatness, magicians notable for their lack of originality and flea circuses. Lots of flea circuses.

Jay spoke to The Chronicle from Boston, where he's performing "Ricky Jay and His 52 Assistants."

Q. The book has a very old-school feel, as if you were researching in a very damp, dark libraries in unpronounceable foreign countries. Where do you get the bulk of your information?

A. I suppose from my own collection, but I've also, for instance, been on the phone with Houghton Library at Harvard about seeing some 15th and 16th century Italian pamphlets of magic while I'm in Boston.

It's a combination of two things. I've built up a strong collection myself, and whenever I travel that's how I spend my time.

Q. Has the Internet made the historian's job easier or more difficult?

A. A little of both. It's like everything else. You have to know where to look.

Q. The flea circuses documented in "Jay's Journal of Anomalies" sound pretty cool. Why don't we have more of them?

A. There was one in San Francisco for quite some time. I was lucky enough to see the show at Hubert's in New York when I was young. Unfortunately, the near extinction of the (human flea) has made the performances difficult. And there's the whole issue of who wants to feed them.

Q. It's a tragedy.A. Yes. Yes, I suppose it is a tragedy.

Q. You've worked a lot in movies with David Mamet and P.T. Anderson. Is there another director you've been hoping to work for?

A. I'd be very happy to work with either of those guys in pretty much anything they wanted me to work in.

Q. I heard you got them to meet. When was that?

A. I can't remember specifically, it was a while ago now, but they've become friends. It's just great for me because they're so different. And they're both so extraordinarily talented.

Q. Do you have a favorite movie you've worked in?

A. I'm very partial to "Heist," the new one (by Mamet). I think "Boogie Nights" and "Magnolia" are great, and I really loved "House of Games." There isn't a project I've done with either of them that I haven't enjoyed. Unfortunately, it doesn't make good copy, but it's the truth.

Q. Getting back to your anthologies, the reproduction blows away your average magazine or newspaper. Was that important to you?

A. Incredibly important. It's something that I'm really happy about -- whenever it's reviewed people talk about how handsome a production it is. I think it's pretty unusual for the author to be the designer of the book. I take great pride in that.

My co-designer is a wonderful printer who lives in the Bay Area. He's a great (letter) press printer. His name is Patrick Reagh. He lives in Sebastopol, and the two of us have done many projects together.

Q. How did you meet?

A. The first time I ever gave a talk on the history of magic, it was for the Clark Library at UCLA, this great rare book collection. They wanted me to do a talk and didn't have any money. The way they lured me into doing the talk is by telling me that Patrick Reagh would do a poster for the printing.

Q. There seems to have been a decline in printing quality with newspapers and magazines.

A. I would say in books, also. An enormous decline. Sometimes the computer age, it gives people many more tools but not any more taste.

Q. Years and years from now, who is the magician that people will remember?

at the moment. I think their work is great. There's a wonderful sense of story and sleight of hand. . . . It's just a very wonderful, elegant presentation.

Q. Do you get to see any of the Las Vegas magicians?

A. Yeah, sure. It's just a very different kettle of fish. It's hard to try to figure who's going to have a lasting impact.

Q. When Joe Blow in the year 2300 writes his book of anomalies, where do you think magician Ricky Jay will fit in?

A. I just (hope) I'm in there, somewhere. Maybe as someone who tried to carry on the traditions.

Jay and Chabon Onstage

Ricky Jay will be interviewed by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Chabon at 8 p.m. Thursday at the Herbst Theater as a presentation of City Arts & Lectures. For more information, call (415) 392-4400.